Daily Briefing, June 23

Chronicle Staff and News Services

Published
3:07 pm PDT, Friday, June 22, 2018

An 800-pound sculpture, titled "Purdue," created by artist Domenic Esposito is displayed outside the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Stamford, Conn. The sculpture was inspired to create by Esposito's brother's battle with addiction. Several state and local governments are suing Purdue Pharma for allegedly using deceptive marketing to boost sales of its opioid painkiller OxyContin, blamed for opioid overdose deaths. (Susan Dunne/Hartford Courant via AP) less

An 800-pound sculpture, titled "Purdue," created by artist Domenic Esposito is displayed outside the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Stamford, Conn. The sculpture ... more

Photo: Susan Dunne / Associated Press

Photo: Susan Dunne / Associated Press

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An 800-pound sculpture, titled "Purdue," created by artist Domenic Esposito is displayed outside the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Stamford, Conn. The sculpture was inspired to create by Esposito's brother's battle with addiction. Several state and local governments are suing Purdue Pharma for allegedly using deceptive marketing to boost sales of its opioid painkiller OxyContin, blamed for opioid overdose deaths. (Susan Dunne/Hartford Courant via AP) less

An 800-pound sculpture, titled "Purdue," created by artist Domenic Esposito is displayed outside the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Stamford, Conn. The sculpture ... more

Photo: Susan Dunne / Associated Press

Daily Briefing, June 23

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His protest was a work of art

An 800-pound, nearly 11-foot steel sculpture of a bent and burned drug spoon was placed Friday in front of the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma as part of an art protest against the opioid crisis. Artist Domenic Esposito and art gallery owner Fernando Alvarez dropped the sculpture at the company’s Stamford headquarters. Police arrested Alvarez on a minor charge of obstructing free passage. Several state and local governments are suing Purdue Pharma for allegedly using deceptive marketing to boost sales of its opioid painkiller OxyContin, deceiving patients and doctors about the risks of opioids.

Exec leaves Netflix

Jonathan Friedland is out of his job as Netflix’s chief communications officer after he reportedly used the n-word in a meeting with other staffers, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set, and unfortunately I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy,” he said in a statement to the Reporter. “I feel awful about the distress this lapse caused.”

EU lawmakers irked by Facebook

European Union lawmakers are unhappy that Facebook is refusing to comply with their request to send two senior officials to testify at a hearing into the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The EU parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee said Friday that policy chief Joel Kaplan will attend Monday’s hearing, but he will only be accompanied two members of Facebook’s public policy team.